Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Shuvuuia

Say it shu-voo-ee-ah. The name means ‘bird’.

Shuvuuia beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 0.6 m
Diet: Ate plants and animals
When: Late Cretaceous75 to 81 million years ago
Fossils found in: Mongolia
Named by: Chiappe, Norell and Clark (1998)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Neotheropoda › Tetanurae › Avetheropoda › Coelurosauria › Tyrannoraptora › Maniraptoriformes › Maniraptora › Alvarezsauridae

Where Shuvuuia sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Other small theropods

Dromaeosaurus Late Cretaceous
Struthiomimus Late Cretaceous
Velociraptor Late Cretaceous
Stenonychosaurus Late Cretaceous
Heyuannia Late Cretaceous
Nomingia Late Cretaceous
Rinchenia Late Cretaceous
Chirostenotes Late Cretaceous

Source: Shuvuuia in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.